


spring mirage

by somewhatmakeshift



Category: THE iDOLM@STER
Genre: AU?, Childhood Friends, F/F, Introspection, drabble-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2017-06-06
Packaged: 2018-11-09 15:19:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11107290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somewhatmakeshift/pseuds/somewhatmakeshift
Summary: Ah, how our meetings and farewells repeat.





	spring mirage

Sometimes, Sae sees that girl out of the corner of her eye. It’s a little ridiculous maybe, but she swears. She’s always struck at the most inopportune moments by it: her, with the silver hair and the palest face. Back again, in streets and in parks, behind or far in front. Always just out of her reach.

She was skin and bones back then too, if she recalls correctly. Did that vision just change and distort as Sae got older? Or was she always so paradoxically graceful as in these split-second imaginings, in spite of herself, in spite of being such a worrying kind of person when they were first face-to-face… It was something to wonder about. 

After all, Syuko Shiomi was just a year or two older than her, she believes. Young enough that they would encounter each other with regularity in that miniature town, play together, share in cheer and laughter: but old enough to form a gap, a fracture between their existences. In the midst of that candle’s burn, that elusive girl would leave and she would never hear of her again. Was that something she knew back then too? Nothing would ever taste as sweet as the food they ate together, be such a source of comfort as that soft laughter when she looked down at her. She certainly didn't know _that_  back then.

And then, here, now. Sae’s arms are hung over the bridge as she stands. Maybe she’s been staring into the water below and idling for a little too long, but nobody’s there to tell her that right now. Her colleagues have both sprinted off in unknown directions: the day, or at least the hour is hers to reminisce. It's really quite nice that nobody gets to know what's in her head most of the time.

It happened again today, she thinks. Though this time she could almost reach her, ask her, and she was almost something tangible to her. She swallowed, but she couldn't quite look away from the phantom. And then at that crucial moment she heard the voices behind her, the catlike brunette and blue-haired songstress, and they said the same thing: "Syuko."

Oh. Her name is _Syuko_. Just like the girl in the back of those crowds. She didn’t know quite what she was feeling anymore.

"Sae."

And when she comes back to reality, here, by God. The scene of their reunion plays out just like the fantasy.

"My," Sae turns slowly, under the trees. Her smile is so slight that it almost looks like she hasn't noticed the girl standing in front of her at all. Almost. "Do you think we've met before?"  _Do you know how many times we've met_ _before?_

Syuko flinches, but her gaze is softening.

" _Sae._ "

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading i don't know why i actually wrote this
> 
> i just need more syusae in this world, i guess? it's sweet to imagine that they may have met each other before like the commus imply. the idea got kind of stuck on me since it's quite romantic. i don't think the lyrics to their songs exactly help with all the talk of meetings. ;~;
> 
> (too bad that if they *did* know each other back then, syuko doesn't seem to have any clue...)


End file.
